The Israeli stories’ rejection of the story of the two opponents:
Selections from the Book The King Prophets...
Written by Dr. Ali Muhammad Al-Sallabi...
Episode (23)
Second: The Almighty’s saying: {And has there come to you the news of the adversaries, when they climbed over the wall of [his] prayer chamber – (21) When they entered upon David and he was alarmed by them? They said, “Fear not. [We are] two adversaries, one of whom has wronged the other, so judge between us with truth and do not exceed [it] and guide us to the sound path (22) Indeed this, my brother, has ninety-nine ewes, and I have one ewe; so he said, ‘Entrust her to me,’ and he overpowered me in speech” (23) [David] said, “He has certainly wronged you in demanding your ewe [in addition] to his ewes. And indeed, many associates oppress one another, except for those who believe and do righteous deeds – and few are they.” And David became certain that We had tried him, and he asked forgiveness of his Lord and fell down bowing [in prostration] and turned in repentance [to Allah] (24) So We forgave him that; and indeed, for him is nearness to Us and a good place of return (25) [SAD 21-25[.
The false Israeli stories, and the false narratives of the Old Testament, mentioned a false story about the reason for the two opponents coming to David (peace be upon him), and it included accusations against David about women, looking at them, and being infatuated with them, and that he married one of them after he admired her beauty, while she was bathing naked, and he worked to kill her husband, in one of the battles, and two angels came down in the guise of two opponents, blaming him about her. Then David realized his crime, so he prostrated, crying and remorseful, and remained prostrating for decades.
Some Interpreters were impressed by these false Israeli details and recorded them in their interpretations!! They interpreted the verses of the story with these details, and forgot that they were talking about a noble prophet and messenger whom Allah protected and preserved, and the most pious and best of people in his time, and they were not talking about a lustful man (a womanizer) who committed forbidden acts and killed others to achieve his interests and satisfy his desires. David (peace be upon him) was immaculate from all these lies.
As for the systematic interpreters and historians, they rejected these Israeli stories, then were afraid to delve into the events of the story and contented themselves with mentioning the general meaning of its verses.
Among these is Imam Ibn Katheer, who said in (Stories of the Prophets), which is part of his history, “The Beginning and the End”: Many interpreters from the predecessors and the successors have mentioned here stories and news, most of which are Israeli, and some of which are inevitably false, which we intentionally left it out in our book, being satisfied and limited to just reciting the story from the Holy Qur’an, and Allah guides whomever He wills to a straight path.
Some books have expanded in response to these lies and narratives with which the Prophet of Allah, David (peace be upon him), was accused, including:
- (The acquittal of the Prophet of Allah, David (peace be upon him), about the insults and lies of the Jews in the Old Testament, and the Israeli stories, by Dr. Fathi Muhammad Al-Zoghbi).
- (Repentance in the Light of the Holy Qur’an, Dr. Amal Bint Saleh Nusayr).
- (David’s trial (peace be upon him), by Ms. Nawal Bint Abdul Salam).
David (peace be upon him) is the most mentioned of the prophets of the children of Israel in the Qur’an after Moses and Isa, upon them and upon our Prophet, may the best blessings and peace be upon them. Allah has declared His preference and distinguished His Book, the Psalms, with mention in more than one place, which indicates that he is one of the best prophets after the Prophets of Determination among the messengers.
Some books of interpretation have dealt with this incident due to the influence of the Israeli stories - unfortunately - and they attributed to David something that contradicts the infallibility of the prophets. Sunni scholars agree that the prophets are infallible from major sins.
Episode references:
- Ali Muhammad Al-Sallabi, The King Prophets, pp. 139-141.
- The Trial of David (peace be upon him), Nawal Abdel Salam, Journal of Islamic Studies, Volume 3, Issue 4, p. 319.
- The Jurisprudence of Victory and Empowerment in the Holy Qur’an, Ali Muhammad Al-Sallabi, Beirut, Dar Al-Ma’rifa, 5th edition, 2009, p. 125.
For further information and review of the sources for the article, see:
The Book of King Prophets on the official website of Sheikh Dr. Ali Muhammad Al-Sallabi:
